CIBC's Simplii warns that 40,000 customers may be affected by data hack

CIBC's Simplii is warning that fraudsters may have stolen access to personal and account information of more than 40,000 of the bank's customers.

Former Loblaw banking arm says hacker may have access to personal and account information

CBC News ·
Last year, more than two million PC Financial customers moved to CIBC, which rebranded the bank as Simplii. (CBC)

CIBC's Simplii is warning that fraudsters may have stolen access to personal and account information of more than 40,000 of the bank's customers.

The bank says it was made aware over the weekend of a claim that hackers had accessed client data. After an investigation, the bank warned its customers of the breach via a press release on Monday morning.

"We're taking this claim seriously and have taken action to further enhance our monitoring and security procedures," the bank's senior vice-president Michael Martin said in a statement.

It's unclear where the bank came up with the 40,000 figure, as that number represents a tiny fraction of the roughly 2 million customers the bank inherited when CIBC took over Simpli — at the time known as Presidents Choice Financial — from Loblaws last fall.

The bank says its investigation is ongoing, and it will continue to notify affected clients "through all channels" if it is determined they have been compromised.

"We feel that it is important to inform clients so that they can also take additional steps to safeguard their information," Martin said.

"If a client is a victim of fraud because of this issue, we will return 100 per cent of the money lost from the affected bank account," the release said.

There is no indication that other CIBC customers are affected, the bank said.